Monthly Archive for June, 2014

: June, 2014

Republicans in other states do not generally issue zany platforms. This is a Texas problem, not a Republican problem. Connecticut has a one page statement of beliefs. Alabama doesn’t even publish a platform, probably a smart move. Neither does Florida. And Mississippi? Have a read. It is a concise and coherent statement of beliefs. No joke, it’s good.

The Texas GOP is a pretty bizarre organization, but the platform is operating on a completely different plane. Should Texans see the platform as a statement of the party’s political beliefs? No, at least not directly. The evidence is in the document itself.

The Texas Republican Party platform is not a statement of the party’s beliefs, but a dumping ground for craziest ideas of its weirdest participants. The platform is the place where the party lets its extremists vent their bile, giving them the sense of validation that eludes them in their day to day interactions with normal people. At the mic before the platform committee, they finally find colleagues who understand the inherent evil of the National Animal Identification System (p.8) or the oppression wrought by the Davis-Bacon Act (p.32).

To get a sense of the growing national gap between the parties, compare the prospects for the 2014 and 2016 elections. Based on current numbers and the assumption that Republicans generally fare better in off-year elections, a massive GOP sweep might give them as many as 53 Senate seats. Facing their best electoral landscape in decades they still have no shot at absolute control of the Senate, which requires sixty votes.